Judge Throws TiVo A $100M Bonus

TiVo shares shot up nearly 30% Thursday after a US Court of
Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled
that EchoStar's Dish Network had indeed violated TiVo's DVR
patents. The court also upheld a $96 million damage award in what
may be Dish's last gasp in their protracted legal battle. The
last chance, in theory, would be a Supreme Court appeal.

This is good news for TiVo and it's shareholders. As
Bloomberg reports, the decision means TiVo will get at least
$100 million in cash, or about $1 a share, from Dish. Much more
important -- it gives it more negotiating power with pay-TV
operators, some of which, like Comcast and DirecTV, have already
paid TiVo to license their DVR software.

The ruling could effect some 4 million Dish Network DVR users.
But Dish says they won't be affected because "EchoStar's
engineers have developed and deployed 'next generation' DVR
software to our customers' DVRs," adding the new software "does
not infringe the TiVo patent at issue in the Federal Court's
Ruling."